The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket
- Author John Boyne, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
- Narrator Richard Goulding
- Publisher Penguin Random House Children's UK
- Run Time 5 hours and 21 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Traditional stories, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Dating, relationships, romance and love, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Families and family members.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
- £3.99
Listen to a sample
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
There's nothing unusual about the Brockets. Normal, respectable, and proud of it, they turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it's clear he's anything but ordinary. To his parents’ horror, Barnaby defies the laws of gravity - and floats.
Desperate to please his parents, Barnaby does his best to keep both feet on the ground – but he just can't do it. One fateful day, the Brockets decide enough is enough. They never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. Barnaby has to go . . .
Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon – and so begins a magical journey around the world, with a cast of extraordinary new friends.
© John Boyne 2012 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Critics Review
-
Mr and Mrs Brocket live an obsessively normal life in Sydney – until their third child, Barnaby, is born. Because Barnaby floats, like a helium-filled balloon, unless he is weighted down. Embarrassed and frustrated by their son’s inability to be normal, they cut him loose at the age of eight, and Barnaby floats away on a series of adventures . . . Boyne’s previous children’s novels (The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, Noah Barleywater Runs Away) have dealt with serious, life-changing themes and his deftness of touch is equally evident in this uplifting celebration of otherness
Daily Mail -
Delightfully quirky . . . with a delightful cast of characters, this books celebrates and acknowledges difference
The Bookseller -
It’s unashamedly and often delightfully whimsical. It’s lovely to look at . . . It has much of the pell-mell what-the-hell-happens-nextness of Dahl and Ibbotson
Guardian -
A whimsical, warm-hearted adventure . . . beautifully illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
The Bookseller -
This funny, warm, but poignant story has a thought-provoking message about the importance of accepting difference and being true to yourself. Barnaby makes for a hugely likeable hero, and this story is full of fantastic characters, from eccentric contemporary artists to a villainous ringmaster to Barnaby’s beloved dog, Captain W E Johns. Booklovers will enjoy spotting the numerous references to books from Heidi to Around the World in 80 Days in a book which is in part a tribute to the power of the imagination. Surreal and quirky in the tradition of children’s writers like Roald Dahl, there are some moments of darkness here too, but although the final resolution is bittersweet, this is ultimately a deeply uplifting story. Oliver Jeffers’ beautiful illustrations add the perfect finishing touch
Booktrust
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